SPECIAL BONUS SATURDAY POSTING:

I was halfway through this interesting interview with Jim Kerr and Goldmine editor Patrick Prince and this was so hilarious I had to share a tiny bit with everyone. Prince is talking about the generational reach of “Don’t You [Forget About Me]” and Kerr offered this tale of seeing kids drug along with their parents to Simple Minds gigs. Click the graphic for less than a minute that will make you laugh.

11 Responses to Jim Kerr Is a FUNNY Guy…

DD has a fine catalog but even when I was a huge DD nerd I thought that their live act left a lot to be desired. From what I can see on YT time has been kind to them in that regard. Of the three acts he listed the only one I would want to actually see live is ABC….Martin Fry really knows how to sell it, even to this day.

I found a complete pro(-ish) shot Proms concert that they did on YT, really good quality, it wasn’t under ABC, Dudley, BBC, Prom, etc No idea how I found it but I snagged it while the snagging was good. There’s also a fairly good quality concert that Mr Fry did circa Traffic that was shot in San Francisco if my memory is right, it’s a more rock-ish set and Fry is on fire.

i honesty had no idea that Goldmine was still around. I haven’t been to the store that sells it here in years so it’s been outta sight outta mind. I see old Trouser Press scans on Facebook and look at the ads and the tiny print and you know, nostalgia factor for that sort of thing? Zero.

The Traffic Tour of the US in 2008 was fantastic. Bare bones band, I got David Palmer on drums for that show, and you are right Tim, Fry was on fire, voice, moves, it was really memorable. The NYC show was fairly intimate, at The Canal Rooms which was basically a club with a large stage. There wasn’t a bad view to see the band in the whole space.

Don’t know if Jim was just goofing or serious, but having seen Duran Duran and Spandau live in the past couple of years, I’d say both bands acquitted themselves quite nicely. I’d seen Duran a bunch before, but never Spandau, and they surprised me with just how musically fit they were. And of course ol’ iron lungs Hadley could sing the paint off a wall.

Taffy – He might be both. Remember the deadly rivalries of the 80s? If Midge Ure had a kind word to say about anyone else it was like a miracle. That Kerr still had twinges of competitive rivalry at his age was funny to me. Particularly since I evoked the less than adroit [to my ears, anyway] last Duran album as being a “pop fail” while I deem “Magic” a “pop win.” Yours truly has as many Duran Duran and Spandau records in my Record Cell as those by Simple Minds. The cattiness of it all made me laugh as much as anything. Rowr! Hey, it was seeing “Live Over Britain” on MTV that really convinced me about Spandau Ballet after vascillating for three years!

My friend Mr. Ware has mentioned to me that “Magic” in its 7″ edit, could pass muster as a Katy Perry track. He knew I had never heard the tweenpop phenomenon, but I’m a fan of Johnson Somerset, and I can’t help but know that Ms. Perry employs his talents extensively, marking her as being ahead of the pack to an old guy like me who has never heard her. Not that I’m remotely her target audience.

I am pleased to report that so far I’m besting you all in the ABC live sweepstakes, having seen them twice: once in a show with a full (but not the original band, and once in a Velvet Sessions at the Hard Rock hotel (not the restaurant). The clip from Jim Kerr was very arch and funny, but of course he’s not serious — those other bands would say the same of SM! That said, as much as I would love to see Spandau live, I never shall because they will undoubtedly do “Gold,” which I loathe utterly. “True” is bad enough, but … just no. Duran I’ve seen too many times to count, but not in quite a few years now. Some of their current stuff is fine, but they’re too variable for me to pay serious attention anymore. “Paper Gods” was all right by me, but rather … quixotic, and not always in a good way.

uglyblackjohn – I loved the fact that Kerr was that catty. As much as I love Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet [there are many dozens of releases in my Record Cell from each of them] both of those two bands have made releases just as unpalatable to me as many a Simple Minds release! The fact that Kerr’s output for a solid decade was uninspiring to me yet he still casts vicious, catty lines in the direction of Spandau and Duran is something that I find frankly hilarious… and in a good way.